I HAVE Been Long Without Writing, but At

July 15.

I HAVE been long without writing, but at

present there is not much to tell. We

are sailing onward with varying speed and

comfort ; have accomplished two hundred and

six miles in twenty-four hours, and have fallen

as low as thirty-five in the same time, when

we encountered calms, head-seas, or strong

easterly currents. For a day or two we were

in the 'doldrums,' which means the calms be-

tween the north and south trade-winds ; but

now we are fairly in the latter, blowing from

the south-east, and are making steady progress.

We expected to cross the line before this, and

each of us bet a dollar on certain days ; but

Lloyd's, Fanny's, and mine are all past, and

this is Louis's, so we begin to fear that he will

lose also. However, the captain hopes that

we may reach the Marquesas some day this

week, and then, I trust, I may be able to

despatch this letter to you, as I know you will

be wearying to get some news of us. I mean

to send it off at once, and to send future epistles

also in instalments, so that even if you get

several letters together (as I think it probable

you may), you will be able to despatch them

round the family one by one, with a week's

interval between them. This will give you a

better chance of getting them back promptly,

and will not surfeit my readers !

We have had some very hot weather since

last I wrote. The thermometer has been up to

eighty-nine degrees in the cabin, but is more

often about seventy-four degrees, and of course

it is hotter on deck. Fanny and Valentine have

taken to mumus and holakus? but I am putting

off as long as I can. So far I have been

content to discard all woollen garments and

stiff or fitted bodices, and I often wear boots

without stockings. Louis goes about in shirt

and trousers, and with bare feet : he and Lloyd

got their faces and arms so tanned at the

beginning that they must now be surely sun-

proof. He is up the first in the morning, and

is generally the last to go to bed. What do

you think of that ?

Our pilot-birds have deserted us, but we now

have plenty of ' boatswain-birds,' 3 so called from

their curious tails, formed of two very long

white feathers tipped with scarlet, which are

supposed to resemble a boatswain's marline-

spike, though I do not see it myself.

I have seen many flying-fish now, and love

to watch them. They look so happy flitting

about in the water that one longs to join them

in their play. As to our occupations, I have

finished a pair of socks for Louis. We are

reading Gibbon's Decline and Fall, and are

now in the second volume. Most of it I have

read aloud, as reading in the open air was too

much for Louis. We cannot stay on deck

in the heat of the day, but it is much cooler

below ; though once or twice I have been glad

to take a siesta. Louis has given up his state-

room because it was too airless, and now sleeps

in the fourth berth in the main cabin ; so we

have turned his room into a dressing-room, and

its size permits us to start our indiarubberbath

and to have a salt-water ' tub ' every morning.

The sailors all have coffee at 6 A.M., as well

as any of us who wish for it. Breakfast is at

eight. I am generally up at seven, and some-

times earlier ; once I was even out at five to

see the sunrise. After breakfast we all go

on deck till Valentine has done up the cabin

and made it into a drawing-room once more.

After that, we ' decline and fall ' off, or write

and work. At twelve is lunch, and at five

dinner. After dinner we go on deck for the

sunset, which is the great spectacle of the day.

We have had some magnificent ones, but they

are about as variable in the tropics as else-

where, and do not always 'come off.' Then

we play two rubbers at whist the captain

and I are now eight rubbers ahead ; and after-

wards we put out the lamps and go on deck to

let the cabin cool before going to bed. The

evenings are generally delicious, the stars

bright, and the air heavenly. We saw the

new moon first on Thursday, when it was

three days old, but looked very large ; though,

as Valentine said, when I remarked upon its

size, 'perhaps it was born large.' It maybe

the way in the tropics ! On Friday we had

our first peep at the Southern Cross, but

unfortunately it was just ahead of the vessel,

and partly hidden by the sails, so we cannot

be said to have seen it properly yet.

Our little vessel sails splendidly. It is

wonderful how she picks her way among the

heavy seas and ships so few ; but we do

get a fair sprinkling of spray now and then.

Last Sunday Lou got a regular shower-bath

in the cockpit, and had to change all his

clothes ; and I had two lesser ones, one

through the skylight in the cabin, and another

in the cockpit, one day when it was very

stormy. Once, also, when I was sitting in the

captain's chair, I was sent spinning across the

cabin, and struck my head upon the sofa. But

see the advantage of a hard Scottish head ! I

was not hurt in the least, though Louis insisted

on banishing the chair, lest another time it

might be more serious.

Friday, July 20.

IN port at last ! We are in anchorage off

the island of Nuka-hiva. The voyage

has been most comfortable and pleasant, yet

I cannot tell you how thrilling it was to hear

Louis's call of ' Land ! ' at five o'clock this

morning. We fairly tumbled into our dressing-

gowns, and rushed on deck. We could see

two islands, Hua-houna, which has no good

anchorage, and Nuka-hiva, our destination. It

was with trembling interest that we watched

the lofty mountains, no more than a grey haze

at first, gradually growing distinct as we drew

nearer and nearer, till at last the green masses

of foliage, the beach, and the curving bay,

came fully into sight. ' An unknown land, to

us at least ; what shall we find there, what

shall we meet with ? ' was, I believe, the

unspoken question in all our minds. Very

soon it was to be answered.

Immediately we dropped anchor, a German

cotton-grower, whose name is Regler, came on

board. He promised to help us in getting

fresh food cocoa-nuts, chickens, and milk

as this was our first and most pressing need

after the voyage, and took the captain on

shore with him at once for this purpose. We

must be content in the meantime to look and

wonder. But now this letter must be closed,

and I will keep all our new experiences for

the next.

Yacht ' Casco,' Anaho Bay, Nuka-hi-va?

Marquesas Islands ', July 22.

THIS, at last, is my beau-ideal! The

climate is simply perfect, much more

delightful than I could have believed possible

so near the Equator. The sun is certainly

hot, but there is always a delightful breeze,

and it is never in the least sultry or airless.

I fancy we have arrived at a fortunate time, as

the rainy season is just over, and everything is

looking new-made and beautiful how beautiful

it is hard to make you realise. We all feel as

if we wanted to ' draw in our chairs ' and stay

here a considerable time ; even the captain,

who was inclined to think the whole expedition

quixotic, is charmed. We have an awning

over the deck which shades us from the sun,

and we spend our whole time when not on

shore in the cockpit. At last I have open-air

life enough to satisfy even me !

Now I must go back to Friday, when I

finished my last letter. It was hardly closed

when our new German friend returned with

the chief, who was to take our letters to the

post-office in the next bay. His name is

Tai-pi-ki-kano, which, being interpreted, is

' High-water and mean.' 5 He is a fine-looking

young fellow, fully six feet tall, with very good

features and beautiful teeth, and such a pleasant

smile. He seemed to be delighted with the

vessel and everything he saw, but our inter-

course had to be limited to laughing and

shaking hands. This latter mode of expressing

satisfaction appeared to greatly please him, for

he solemnly shook hands all round three times

before he went away. He was quite nicely

dressed in white linen trousers and coat.

While he was still on board, a large canoe

with six or seven natives arrived, bringing

cocoa-nuts, oranges, and bananas for sale. We

went on deck to see them, and it was a strange

and, to us, rather alarming sight. They were

in every stage of undress : two most respect-

able-looking old gentlemen wore nothing but

small red and yellow loin-cloths and very

cutty sarks on top. There were even some

who wore less ! The display of legs was

something we were not accustomed to; but

as they were all tattooed in most wonderful

patterns, it really looked quite as if they were

wearing open-work silk tights. 6 There was

a good deal of bargaining about the price of

the fruits, and the wag of the party, who did

most of the talking, said it was certainly a very

fine vessel, but there seemed to be very little

money on board !

Louis took them all over the yacht, through

the after- and fore - cabins and the galley,

and then up by the forecastle companion.

They followed him in Indian file, making

strange sounds of satisfaction and pleasure

all the time. Most of them were dis-

tinctly good-looking, but there was one with

a very strange, unpleasant face, and an immense

mouth that at once suggested cannibalism to

us all.

When the chief went on shore, Captain Otis

and Lloyd went with him. He took them into

several houses and introduced them to the in-

mates, who gave them always the kindliest of

welcomes, and treated them to gallons of fresh

cocoa-nut milk. In the meantime, almost as

soon as they left us, there arrived two other

canoes, and we had presently fourteen natives

swarming over the deck. We women were a

little frightened, but we made signs that we

had no money to buy anything, and they soon

went away, quite satisfied and apparently not

at all surprised. We are told that their own

women hold a very inferior position, and are

permitted to share very few of the privileges

enjoyed by the men. Only very lately has the

last tabu been removed that forbade the women

to walk on roads which men had made, or

to use a bridge which men had built ; they

were compelled, if they desired to cross over,

to do so only by wading a creek. Even now

they are not allowed to ride in a saddle be-

longing to a native, though they may use a

foreigner's ; and as there is only one person in

the island Mr. Regler who possesses a side-

saddle, you may imagine if it is in constant

request. In some of the other islands, more-

over, a woman is not allowed to eat meat ; the

men form themselves into ' clubs ' or parties,

where all the pork and other meat is consumed.

Would you not think that they had taken a

hint from civilised society ? . . . 7

Yesterday we had a delightful day. Lloyd,

Valentine, and I went ashore at n A.M., taking

bathing-suits and luncheon with us. We found

a grove of palm-trees for a dressing-room, and

had a delicious bathe, which reminded me that

it was twenty-six years since I had ventured on

such a pleasure ; but here the water is delight-

fully warm, and we can stay in as long as we

like without risk of chill. After bathing, we

lunched on sardines, biscuits, and beer, and

a native brought us some cocoa-nuts and

oranges, which are a green kind, very juicy

and delicious ; by the time they are yellow

they are quite dried up. In return we gave

him some of our biscuits and beer. The

natives are very fond of hard ship's biscuits.

They told us that while we were bathing a

canoe filled with fruit went off to the yacht

and offered to barter the whole for ten ship's

biscuits. But the French, to whom these

islands belong, have forbidden this kind of

exchange.

We saw many of the women while we were

on shore, and some of them are very pretty.

They came round us and saluted us, saying

' Ka-ow,' * which means ' how do you do ? '

1 good-bye,' ' thank you,' and many other things,

all implying an expression of courtesy. There

was much laughing, and many hand-shakes

were exchanged between us. They wore light-

coloured holakus with long trains, a very pretty

garment, in which they looked most graceful ;

their feet were bare, but tattooed in such beau-

tiful patterns that they had the appearance of

wearing open-work silk stockings. They tattoo

their legs all over, and Fanny and I feel very

naked with our own plain white legs when

we are bathing. The girls, we are told, marry

exceedingly young. Our German friend, Mr.

Regler, for instance, has a native wife whom

he married when she was fourteen : she is only

eighteen now, and is the mother of two children.

* More correctly written 'Kaoha,'

I AM continuing this letter on Tuesday, as

on Sunday I was interrupted, and could

get no further. The French gendarmes I

think I have already reminded you that these

islands belong to France came on board for

a visit of inspection, and to arrange about

shooting licences. Both the captain and

steward have rifles, and we are told that there

are wild chickens 8 on the island that are par-

ticularly good eating. At present all the fresh

meat we get is pork, which is delicious when

roasted, as it has a peculiarly fine flavour. The

pigs are fed on cocoa-nuts, and are quite tame

in fact, they are household pets, running

about with the dogs, and even going with them

to the houses for supper. 9

This morning we had a visit from a much

more important chief than ours I mean, than

Taipi-ki-kino of Anaho, of whom I have already

spoken. This other was Kooamua, chief of

Hatiheu, in the next bay. He is very intelli-

gent, and went all round the yacht, looking

at things with a really critical appreciation :

everything was carefully and thoughtfully

examined. He was greatly pleased with the

captain's rifle, did not care much for Lloyd's

fiddle ; but the thing that charmed him most

was the typewriter. He went off at last, very

happy, with a Casco ribbon for his hat, a piece

of plug tobacco in his pocket, and his name and

that of every member of his family printed by

himself with the typewriter. He looked such

a mild and benevolent old gentleman, that it is

difficult to believe he was till quite recently a

cannibal. He is now a wealthy and important

man, with a large European house, in which

he entertains the governor ; and the French do

nothing that concerns the natives without con-

sulting him. 10

The typewritten ' family tree ' proved to be

so popular that the very same evening our

own chief sent us a list of his family to be

written out in the same way. Kooamua, how-

ever, remained the only one to try the machine

for himself. What children they are, happy

and contented, with no wants that nature

cannot supply. I wonder if we are wise or

kind to rouse them to all the cares and

anxieties of civilised life. My dear husband

used always to say that dogs had much

happier lives than ours, and these Kanakas

seem as free from every conscious care and

responsibility as ever a dog could be. Their

conduct to each other and to strangers, so far

as kindliness and courtesy are concerned, is

much more Christ-like than that of many pro-

fessing Christians ; but I am told that although

the Roman Catholic missionaries have been

teaching them for a number of years, they

have produced very little real effect, save that

the islanders have ceased to worship idols.

Fanny has secured the last that remained in

this bay, a very uncouth attempt at a human